Wave rods for hair curlers have been used for many years to create different hair curling styles. Typically, different types of curlets or rods are used to style or restyle hair, produce permanents, or color the hair. Most styled configurations are imparted by moistening the hair and wrapping it around a rod or curler and applying different waving lotions or setting lotions to the hair to impart a "permanent" wave or curl to it. Many such curlets or wave rods are of a generally cylindrical shape and employ various apertures and projections on the surface Go engage the hair, which is rolled over the cylinder while the hair is wound around the cylinder. Typically, the hair is wound over the rod or curler from the bottom or free end toward the scalp. Once the hair has been wound, clips or rubber bands are used to hold the curler in place for the length of time required for the operation being undertaken.
The rods or curlers which are used typically are provided with different external diameters, depending upon the tightness of the curl which is being formed; so that rods of different diameters are used for different styling effects. Rods of different sizes may be used on different parts of the hair, depending upon the particular look which the hair stylist desires to achieve.
When rods or curlers are used with a permanent waving solution, it is important to carefully determine the amount of fluid which is injected into placed on the hair to avoid damaging the hair. For permanents, it also has been common to wrap strips of cloth over some or part of the hair to absorb excess solution. In addition, it is necessary to ensure that excess solution, which might flow down from rods located along the sides and back of the head, does not collect on the ends of the hair located on the bottom of the rods.
Another problem which has existed in the past is that for permanents and wet styling, drying of the hair with the rods or curlers in place is time consuming. This is particularly true when thick curls, formed by relatively thick or heavy layers or strands of hair, are employed. Those portions of the hair strands which are located adjacent the rod surface remain damp for a considerable time, even after the outside hair has become dry or nearly dry.
Attempts have been made to overcome some of the problems of the prior art devices noted above. The U.S. patent to Cassidy U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,550 is directed to a wave rod designed to form tight curls in hair. The rod is hollow and has a thin helical fin extending radially along its length to form a generally flat-bottomed channel between adjacent turns. Holes are formed in the bottoms of the channels to allow the passing of setting lotion or hair styling liquid from the hair into the interior of the rod. Without the holes, such liquid would accumulate in the bottom of the channels. After a strand of hair has been wound about the rod of the Cassidy patent, a band is stretched across the end nearest the scalp to hold that end in place. After the strand has been wound through the channel, a spring clip is placed over the opposite end to hold the strand in position. The use of the separate bands and clips causes extra time to be consumed in holding the hair strand in place. Drying of the hair, using the device of Cassidy, is accomplished in the same manner as in the prior art, namely from the outer or outside surface only.
The U.S. patent to Djuric U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,630 is directed to a hair curling apparatus which is mounted to a forced hot air dryer. The device of this patent is an elongated hollow rod, which has a number of projections extending outwardly from it for engaging hair wound about the rod. The rod is fitted into an adapter placed over the end of a conventional hair dryer. Holes are placed throughout the length and periphery of the rod to permit air from the dryer, forced into the interior of the rod, to exit through the holes, and therefore through the hair wound on the rod. Consequently, drying of the hair, using this device, is from the inside out, rather than from the outside in, as with the device of Cassidy and other devices of the prior art. Internal vanes are provided inside the rod to impart rotation to the hair curling sleeve to facilitate winding of hair on the curler as air is forced into the curler rod from the hair dryer.
A somewhat different attempt to provide a drying hair curler is disclosed in the U.S. patent to Shalvoy U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,460. The device of the Shalvoy patent is a hollow elongated rod, which has raised projections about it to assist in holding hair on the rod. Apertures or holes are formed throughout the length of the rod around its periphery, and an adapter end is made to fit over the end of hand-held hair dryer. The adapter directs some of the air from the dryer into the interior of the rod; so that it exits through the holes into the hair around the rod. Thus, this device operates to dry hair from the inside out as with the device of the Djuric patent. In addition, the adapter on the end of the hair dryer also directs some of the air axially outwardly along the outer surface of the rod to facilitate drying of the hair on the outside of the rod. Consequently, this device may be considered to provide both radial and axial hot air flow through the hair and over the hair to facilitate drying of the hair. The diverter end of the rod, which is placed over the hair dryer, is integrally formed with the portion about which the hair is wound; and only a single shape or configuration is provided for the rod. There is no disclosure in this patent of any particular manner in which the hair is wound about the curler rod. It appears, however, that it is intended for winding the hair from the bottom or free end upwardly toward the scalp. Nothing is disclosed for holding the curler rod in place.
Many solid or hollow hair styling rods, without any provision for passing hot air outwardly through the rods into the hair, have been designed. A typical spirally shaped hair roller is disclosed in the U.S. patent to Mariani U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,732. The device of this patent is designed to curl and set hair on the spiral rod, with the hair being wound beginning from the roots and ending at the tips. A cylindrical sheath is used to rotate the lock of hair into the spiral, and it is slid in place over the wound hair to hold the hair in place. The sheath has holes or slits in it to permit the passage and penetration of liquids for curling and setting the hair and to effect the drying operation. This is a relatively cumbersome device to use and apply. The sheath also tends to inhibit efficient drying of the hair.
A different approach for drying the hair from within on a hair curler is disclosed in the U.S. patent to Fukutuka U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,155. this patent discloses a tubular member, which holds a charge of working fluid vaporizable at an operating temperature of 50.degree. C. to 70.degree. C. The outer surface of the heat dissipating portion of the member is covered with an elastic hair engagement part to inhibit hair slippage. A heat receiving end portion of the device is exposed so that it can receive heat from a separate external heat source to cause vaporization of the working fluid. Consequently, the hair wound around the outer surface of the heat dissipating portion of the member is heated by the condensation of the vaporized working fluid within the member. The overall operation of the device is comparable of a conventional curling iron; although separate curlers may be utilized simultaneously, in different parts of the hair. The devices of Fukatuka are expensive, because of the multiple types of materials which are required for the curler and because of the sealed tubular member filled with a charge of working fluid necessary to effect the heat transfer.
It is desirable to provide a hair styling system which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art, which is inexpensive and simple to use, which increases the efficiency of the hair stylist, and which may be used to style, restyle, perm or color hair with the same system.